Resurrection Day
by MaldaineD
Summary: Dick Grayson decides to throw a party for Jason Todd's 'Resurrection Day' or 'Re-Birthday.' Bat-Family and Outlaws shenanigans follow.


"If I walk anymore I think my feet are going to fall off, Tim! You've had me out of my apartment all day, and I really just want to go home and take a nap. I had a bit of a hangup last night, and I didn't really get a lot of sleep," Jason said as he started to yawn. It wasn't fake in the slightest.

"Just a little while longer, okay?" Tim said. He sent another message to Dick saying that Jason was getting restless. There was no response. Why Tim was forced to show Jason around while Dick and Barbara decorated his apartment made no sense to him. Sure, Tim had the best relationship with Jason at that point, but it didn't mean that he could coax Jason out for as long as they needed. Jason was too headstrong to just go with what Tim said.

"Nope. It's nap time," Jason said as he bumped into Tim. "You're welcome to come up for a few minutes, before I pass out, that is."

"As tempting as that sounds...yeah, I think I will."

"I'm actually a little surprised. Usually you're saying something about how you have to meet up with Conner by this point in our meetings. I thought that I bored you."

"The Red Hood is exciting. You're not particularly interesting," Tim said with a little bit of jest, though he wasn't completely joking.

"Thanks," Jason replied earnestly. "I'm trying..."

"And you're doing a good job. And we're already at your building," Tim said as he looked down at his phone. Dick hadn't given him a sign that it was okay to come up, but at the same time, the two of them had four hours to decorate the apartment, so this was partly there fault if they didn't have everything ready. The sun was almost completely behind the buildings of the city. It was a dinner party, and it was dinner time.

Jason unlocked the front gate, and he opened the door, holding it open so that Tim wouldn't get locked out. The two of them climbed up the countless stairs until they got to the door. Tim watched Jason look through his keys until he found the right one, and then he slid it into the lock and opened the door. The living room was dark. The sun had completely gone down in the time that it took them to get into the building and up the stairs. Jason flicked on the lights, and...

"SURPRISE!" A bunch of people shouted at the same time and jumped out from random hiding places. Jason put a hand on Tim's chest, and fired a round into the middle of the crowd. Thankfully, he hit Conner.

"Ow..." Kon let out as he plucked the bullet off of his chest.

The rest of the room was silent as Jason gave a weak smile and put the gun back in his side holster. Tim couldn't help but appreciate the fact that Jason had jumped in front of him when he thought there was danger; brotherly love really had started to form between the two of them, but he couldn't look past the fact that Jason had just (accidentally?) shot his boyfriend.

"You okay, Kon?" Tim called from behind Jason.

"Fine," he said as he looked into the crowd. He was glad all of them knew who he was, because that could have been a bit awkward.

"Sorry 'bout that, Conner..."

"You've been threatening to shoot me since I started dating Tim, so I guess I knew it was coming," he replied with a goofy smile. Jason heaved a sigh of relief. At least Kon wasn't mad at him.

"Welcome to the party," Dick said as he shot of one of those little party streamer things. Barbara started to laugh as she popped hers as well. Jason slowly entered the room after Tim pushed him.

The party was small. Conner, Dick, Barbara, Roy, Kori, and Tim. It appeared that Dick didn't really know who else to call for the party. The funniest part was all of the birthday things hanging around his apartment even though it wasn't his birthday. Jason was quiet for the beginning. Most of the party goers were enjoying some drinks (even Tim and Conner were allowed to imbibe as long as they spent the night), and they were mostly just talking about daily life and catching up. Dick hadn't seen Kori or Roy in a while, so he enjoyed the time he got to spend with them.

Barbara went into the kitchen with Tim to make sure that the dinner they had planned was still on course. Jason slipped away into the kitchen with them, and Dick soon followed after as he apologized to the rest of the guests. Roy, Kori, and Conner seemed rather okay with the situation as the elder two gave their young friend tips on how not to throw up from drinking too much. Clark was far too much the do-gooder to give him these important points.

Dick shut the door as he said, "Sorry, I didn't really know who else to call. Next year it won't be so much of a surprise; maybe we can work on the guest list together."

"Why the hell are you doing this?" Jason asked.

"What?"

"Did Tim put you up to this?" Jason asked as he opened the fridge and grabbed another beer. His eyes cut to Tim.

"This was Dick's idea," Tim said.

"I thought it would be nice..."

"It's not even my birthday, Dick," Jason said caustically.

"We know that, Jason," Barbara chimed in. She had taken the oven mitts off her hands and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Sorry that they didn't have 'Congrats for coming back from the dead' banners."

"We tried to go to that seminary store down the road," Dick started, "because we hoped they had a 'Happy Resurrection Day' banner, but the didn't."

"Not close enough to Easter," Barbara joked.

"I thought about joining the priesthood once. I think it was like a calling from another life," Jason laughed. They all caught him wiping a few tears away with the heel of his hand.

"So, you're not mad at us?" Tim asked.

"Not this time," Jason said. His eyes were red and puffy now. He walked over to Dick, and he wrapped his arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug. "Thanks, man..."

"It's going to be a long road, but I'm letting you know that I'm here, and I'm going to try to work through it with you," Dick said. Classic older-brother Dick. Jason almost wanted to throw up, but when Dick squeezed him back just as tightly, that feeling just melted away from him.

"Thanks for keeping me out of the house," Jason said as he gave Tim just as intense of a hug.

"It's what annoying little brothers do," Tim said with a smile.

Barbara cocked her head to the side when he came to her.

"You and I..."

"We worked pretty well together, Jason. You know very well what I said about you, and I still believe it."

"You told Bruce there was darkness in me, and you were right," Jason responded.

"I wouldn't mind working with you again, Todd," Barbara said as she grabbed a hold of him. She even gave him a sisterly peck on the cheek and pushed him away to check the roast that she and Dick had been cooking for most of the day. Conner opened the kitchen door almost as soon as Barbara pulled the roast out.

"Something smells delicious," Conner said.

"I'm starved over here," Roy said as they pushed into the kitchen.

"Ladies first!" Kori shouted as she pushed Roy out of the way.

"I like the way Starfire thinks," Barbara said as she started to carve the roast. Dick finished off the potatoes, and Tim put desert into the oven; it was one of Martha Kent's famous blueberry cobblers.

It wasn't particularly hard to cook for a group of superheroes. They were meat and potato kind of people. The more calories and protein, the better. There were only four chairs at the table, so all of them just decided to eat while they sat on the floor. Dick couldn't help but feel bad about the entire thing; he felt like he had dropped the ball on this little get together. There were only seven people there, and while everyone was having a good time, it didn't feel like the celebration that he thought it should be.

Jason had even asked about Bruce. Barbara alerted him that he was invited, but he was away on business had had to decline the invitation because of it. There was some big opening going on in China, and he had a huge stock in the company that was starting it. While Jay took the news a little hard, he didn't let it get him down. He enjoyed the time that he got to spend with his surrogate family. Kori discussed what it was like dating Dick for the time that she did, which just made him blush. He tried to get her to stop telling the really embarrassing stories, but she wouldn't; Barbara immediately started to chime in with the time that Dick tried to impress her with some of his acrobatics; she alerted the group that the sex was very bad that night.

Roy and Jason talked up some of the missions that they had gone on, and Kori made sure to correct a lot of the hyperboles that they started to spew. Her facts generally ended up being bigger than theirs were, so most of the Bat-family weren't exactly sure who to believe the stories, and they ended up settling on both sides. It was far more fun to discuss 1,000 ninjas over just 100. Jay made sure to talk about some of the dark secrets that Tim had shared with him about Conner. Tim turned beet red and started to throw things at Jay when he wouldn't stop talking.

"You told him that?" Conner asked with a horrified expression. The room just started to laugh at the cute tale of young love.

"No one cares that you lose control of your heat vision when you get there," Dick said with a laugh. Now both the younger boys were blushing. When they were finally done with all of the food, Barbara and Tim carved the rest of the roast and put it into plastic bags while Roy, Jay, and Kori started to do the dishes. Dick and Conner were busy arguing over what movie they should watch. Both of them had horrible taste and that was exactly why they were in charge of it; all of them had decided, secretly of course, that a terrible movie was the best way to spend the rest of this 'Resurrection Day.' Well, mostly they thought a movie might be a good idea because during dinner Jason's landlord told them they were getting complaints. They decided on some quiet time.

_Attack of the Zombie Primates_ was about as interesting as it sounded, and the rest of the party guests wondered how Dick and Conner had even found it on the exhaustive list of movies that were streaming. Both of them shrugged their shoulders as the movie started to play; each person had a bowl of ice cream and some cobbler in front of them. Tim was between Conner's legs, his head resting back on the taller boy's shoulder. Dick and Barbara were snuggled together in the corner of the couch, and Kori sat between Jason and Roy so that the two of them could hold hands behind her (after they finished the addictive dessert). She was a good friend like that, though she stood up to get some more ice cream; she didn't tell them, and everyone in the room saw their hands. She thought of it as a personal victory. When she returned, she finished her ice cream quickly, put the bowl in her lap, and wrapped her right arm around Jason's back, and her left arm around Roy's neck. Their hands were still 'hidden' behind her. They were the most complicated 'high-school' romance the party had seen. Even the high-schoolers were less childish.

When the movie was over, they were all pretty tipsy (except for Tim, he was drunk). Kori and Roy decided that they were going to head back to their respective apartments; Jay gave Roy a quick kiss goodnight as they both left, and he gave Kori a kiss on the cheek after she pointed for it. The Bat-family and Conner repositioned themselves now that they had some extra room, and they decided that they would watch another movie together. Conner and Tim might be staying the night, but Dick and Barbara decided that after the movie they were going to head home.

Just as they decided on a movie, there was a knock on the door.

"Got it," Jason said as he stood up. He pulled the chain off the door, and when he opened it, he didn't say anything for a minute.

"Were we being too loud again?" Dick ask as Tim just started laughing for no reason whatsoever.

Jason stepped aside from the door, and a tall man in a tuxedo walked in. He held a small present in one hand, and a change of clothes in the other.

"I tried to get here as fast as I could. Barry was on a date, so no super speed, and Clark was on Watchtower duty, so the jet was the only way. This is for you, and I'm going to go and change into something a little more comfortable," the man said.

"Daddy Bats..." Conner said quietly, and Tim started to laugh again. It was so obvious that he was intoxicated that Dick, Barbara, and Jay feared for their lives.

"One, don't ever call me 'Daddy Bats' again, Conner. Two, Daddy Bats will have whatever my youngest...whatever Tim is having," Bruce said with a solemn, but hopeful, smile. Not all wounds had healed. He handed the present to Jason as he went to the bathroom to change.

"What's in it?" Dick asked.

"Shouldn't I wait until he gets back?" Jay responded. He didn't wait for a reply, and instead, he went and grabbed Bruce a beer from the fridge. All of them partook in the round, and Conner helped him carry over the beers.

"If Clark asks, I didn't let you do this," Bruce said as they all took a sip of their beers; the movie started.

"You never opened your present," Bruce said almost silently.

Jason reached over to the side table, and he grabbed the small, wrapped gift. He looked over at Bruce who looked tired as hell. Everyone else had already fallen asleep. Jason ripped the corners until all that was left was a black box. He opened up, and inside was a framed picture of Bruce and Jason when he was much younger.

"That's the original, so don't lose it," Bruce said.

"Well, I'd rather you have it," Jason said.

"I've got a copy."

"I'm really glad that you made it, Bruce."

"I wouldn't have missed it," he responded as he reached over and gave Jason a hug. They had started to happen more often, but they still hadn't lost meaning.

Dick may have been worried that the party was a failure, but Jason thought it was the best 'Resurrection Day' he had ever had.

The copy of the picture sat in Bruce's office. There were eight pictures there. One for Alfred, and one for each of Bruce's children.


End file.
